she noticed the gash above his eye and the dried blood crusted on his nose. She ushered him inside and bolted the door behind him.
“Are you hurt? What happened?” she asked in concern. He waved these questions aside, making for the basin of water. “Should I ask for more hot water?” she asked setting the candle down and fetching him clean cloths.
“Nay, this is fine,” he said dunking his split knuckles under the water and wincing. “Ouch.”
Una reached around him and dunked one of the cloths in the water. She had experience enough, and that gash needed cleaning. He stood still while she pressed the cold cloth to the wound, lathering up his hands with soap and washing away the dried blood.
“Were you set upon by thieves?” she asked.
He appeared to consider this. “Yes,” he said finally. “In a manner of speaking, that is exactly what happened.”
Una tutted sympathetically. Poor Sir Armand! And all this time she had been thinking quite uncharitably that he had left her in the lurch. “Do not despair,” she said, keen to make it up to him in wifely solicitude. “Recollect that I have the purse of gold that Bryce gave into my keeping. All is not lost.”
He gave her a sideways look. “I did not say they robbed me.”
“Oh. You managed to fight them off, then?” He must be better able to handle himself in a fistfight than he was on the competition field, she thought.
“Yes,” he said briefly, drying off his hands.
She noticed he was eyeing her shift and realized it was a bit immodest to walk around in. “Your supper is on the table,” she told him, placing the candle there and retreating to huddle under the covers of the bed.
He walked over and peered under the cloth. At the sight of the meal, he seemed to perk up considerably and pulled up a chair to wolf it down. Una watched him in the dull gleam of the candlelight, with her elbows resting on her knees. She wanted to question him but knew full well she had promised nothing but dutiful compliance.
When he had eaten his fill, he sighed. “That’s better,” then rose to start undressing. Una noticed he had lost his hat, for his dark curls were bare and there was a long rent up the leg of one of his chauses. She did not mention either as she knew an accommodating wife would not comment on such things.
“Is your business now concluded, so we are at liberty to leave Caer-Lyoness tomorrow?” she asked tentatively.
“We’ll leave at first light,” he told her with a yawn, and came toward the bed. “Do you not mean to ask me where we are bound?”
“If you are agreeable to tell me, then I would be most interested, of course.”
He frowned slightly. “We make for Tranton Vale. It’s an annual tournament on the rural circuit.”
“I see,” she answered politely. “I have never attended one, so it should be a novel experience.” He nodded but looked distracted and she felt suddenly uneasy. “But perhaps you do not mean for me to attend?” she said, before adding quickly. “I will of course abide by whatever you think best.”
“What else do you imagine I mean to do with you?” he asked as he climbed into the bed. “I shan’t abandon you on the wayside if that’s what you’re implying.”
She looked across at him in some alarm and was relieved to see she had not offended him. “No, no,” she hastened to assure him. “Only that, I was not sure if there might be some point en route you might wish to set me down. After all, I do not know in what part of the country your estate lies,” she pointed out.
He looked evasive. “It’s not on the way,” he said shortly, and Una found herself suddenly doubtful he even possessed an estate. She suppressed the small tingle of alarm this gave her, for if he did not, surely that was against the terms of the competition. With an effort, Una forbore to press him further on the matter.
“Tranton Vale lies north,” he told her, throwing out a pillow and dragging another under his head. “I’ve bought a map and we can mark out those treasure sites you spoke of tomorrow and plan our course of action.”
Una’s heart sank. Assuredly, they were not heading for her husband’s home. Her mind veered away from the risky business of retrieving hidden Northern loot. It seemed she would have little choice in